Legislative process of Packilvania

Statute

Legislative process for Statutes in Packilvania

Statutes are usually made as follows:

• Government agency publishes a report on a specific issue and recommends a law
• Department which oversees the government agency issues a policy discussion paper investigating possible issues that a legislative draft might entail and how it relates to the government's plans
• Minister usually approves the policy discussion paper and instructs the department to prepare a bill
• Departments drafts the law and the Minister on approving the bill presents it to the Council of Ministers.
• The Council of Ministers discusses the bill and votes on whether it should proceed
• The bill is issued online or in the Government Gazette and the public is invited to make comments. This is usually by post or email or via the government's online portal.
• The department reviews the comments and makes changes to the bill, presenting the changes to the Minister until he is happy who will in turn present it to the Council of Ministers again for approval. If the Sultan instructed the law be made, the Minister might consult with him on the changes that are proposed to save time. This is unlikely as the Sultan barely has time
• The bill is presented by a Minister or a representative thereof, usually the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs to the Chairperson of the Legislative Council who then circulates the bill to the members and sets a date inviting the Minister to defend or explain it
• The committee debates the bill and can invite the Minister or representative thereof to explain the bill
• The committee members propose amendments and agree by consensus or vote to send these proposed amendments to the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs to present to the Council
• If the Council rejects the amendments, they can reject the amendments and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs will send it back to the Chairperson who will in turn send it to the Legislative Council for debate and commentary.
• Comments are sent back to the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs who will present the bill with Legislative Council Comments to the Sultan. The Comments usually include the outcome of a vote by the Legislative Council whether they recommend or do not recommend that the Sultan passes the bill with reasons.
• The Sultan will approve the bill, making it a law or eject the bill with comments thereby sending it back to the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs who will send it back to the Council and the responsible Minister will ask their department to revise it and the process will start over. If the Sultan rejects it altogether, then the bill fails. In reality, the Sultan does not actually read bills or the Legislative Comments in full. His Legal Team in the Imperial Court examine the bill and compare it to his terms of reference and they provide him with an executive summary highlighting all the important things to note and then he will decide whether to pass the bill.

Sometimes:

• The Minister can instruct the government agency to initiate the legislative process based on his Policy Agenda or if instructed by the Prime Minister or the Sultan with Terms of Reference.
• Various bodies of registered lobbyists can make recommendations for legislative issues and laws to the covered and the government agency can decide whether

Budget

A budget is a statute passed annually whereby government's expenditures and taxes are delineated. It follows a similar process to a normal statute but is differentiated in the following way:

• The Minister of Finance instructs the Department of Finance to initiate the process
• The Department opens lines for submissions from other government departments
• Government departments consult with other government agencies to look at their projected and current expenditure needs based on their policy requirements
• The government departments present their Consolidated Budget Comments to the Minister who in turn sends them to the Department of Finance
• The Department of Finance collates and presents them to the Minister of Finance who then presents the budget the Office for Fiscal Discipline which analyses the budget and presents its projects of the budget's effects.
• The budget bill, OFD's comments and the Minister's comments are presented to the Council of Ministers for approval
• The Council approves the budget
• The Minister of Finance presents the budget to the entire Plenary Parliament of Packilvania and the Speaker of Parliament and the Chairperson of the Legislative Council who distribute it to their respective bodies.
• The budget is discussed in committees which make recommendations to the plenary.
• The plenary discusses the bill and comments and express their own thoughts and vote on the budget.
• If the budget is rejected, the government must revise the budget and re-do the process. To avoid this, departments including the Finance Department will consult with the OFD and small groups of parliamentarians known as Parliamentary Working Groups to get pre-emptive support for the budget.
• If the plenary adopts the budget, the Sultan will grant royal assent. He can send it back with comments, reject the budget altogether or accept it. The budget must be presented with comments from the Legislative Council and the Office for Fiscal Discipline. If the Sultan does not grant or withhold royal assent in 15 days, the budget passes unless he issues an order that he is still looking at it. If he fails to approve or reject the budget it automatically comes into force.